You may not know this about Jesus.

How to Experience the Joy of Jesus

"These things I have spoken to you

so that My joy may be in you,

and your joy may be full."

- John 15:11

You may not know this about Jesus,

What it Means to Glorify God

"By this My Father is glorified,

that you bear much fruit,

and so prove to be My disciples."

John 15:8

You may not know this about Jesus-

The Kind of Prayer God Answers

"If you abide in Me,

and My words abide in you,

ask whatever you wish,

and it will be done for you."

John 15:7

How Jesus Lives in You

"If you abide in Me,

and My words abide in you?"

John 15:7

In the verses before this,

the movement flowed one way-

How Often Should I Forgive Someone?

"Lord, how often shall my brother

sin against me,

and I forgive him?

Up to seven times?"

Matthew 18:21

How to Stand When Everything Around You Falls

"If you keep My commands,

you will remain in My love?"

Everyone wants a life

that can stand in the storm.

Jesus tells us

What Does It Mean to Remain?

"As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.

Remain in My love." John 15:9

Remain.

The same word Jesus used for the Vine.

The same command.

How to Love Like Jesus Loved

"Love one another;

as I have loved you."

John 13:34

Years ago I fell on my knees

beside my bed

How to Obey

the Impossible Command

"This is My commandment,

that you love one another

as I have loved you." John 15:12

Jesus does not hide the standard.

In the wilderness, venomous snakes swept through Israel's camp.

Death spread fast.

Then God gave Moses a strange command:

"Make a bronze serpent and lift it up. Anyone who looks at it will live" (Numbers 21:8–9).

No medicine.

No ritual.

Most people hear "repent" and picture behavior:

Stop sinning. Start obeying.

Turn around. Walk the other way.

But the Greek word is metanoia—

a change of mind.

Not a change of behavior.

She wasn't invited.

She wasn't welcome.

But she came anyway—past the whispers, past the shame.

A woman with a shattered story walked into an all-men's dinner, past the Pharisee who withheld honor from Jesus—no kiss, no water, no oil.

She gave Him tears, perfume, and kisses.

She knelt and washed His feet with her tears—kissed them with her lips.

Jesus prayed something staggering: the Father loves you with the same love He has always had for His Son. Not a lesser love. Not a diluted version. The same eternal love the Father has for Jesus now rests on you.

That means you are not an outsider hoping for scraps of affection. The delight the Father has always had in His Son is the delight He now has in you. The embrace that has never failed Jesus is the embrace that now holds you.

This is not sentiment—it's reality. The cross didn't just remove your guilt; it placed you inside the Father's love for His Son. You are welcomed into the same relationship Jesus has always known.

You don't know this about Jesus: He didn't only come to forgive you. He came to bring you into the love of the Father—a love as eternal and unfailing as the love He has for Jesus.

What This Means to Me When I feel unworthy or distant, I'll remember: the Father's love for Jesus now rests on me. That truth silences shame and steadies my soul.

Prayer Father, thank You for the staggering truth that You love me as You love Your Son. Teach me to rest in that love, to live from it, and to let it shape my thoughts, choices, and relationships. Let my life reflect the unity Jesus prayed for, and let the world see Your love through me.

Jesus had just fed the 5,000.

The crowd wanted more—

more signs, more bread, more proof.

So He gave them a truth so strange,

many walked away.

"Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you… For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink." — John 6:53–55

Decapolis—ten Gentile cities east of Galilee.

Pagan worship,

Roman power,

animal sacrifice.

It happened there.

A man was demonized—

Jesus didn't just calm a storm.

He rebuked it.

The word used—epitimaō—

is the same word He spoke when casting out demons.

That's not coincidence.

It's confrontation.

Jesus steps out of the house

and sits beside the sea. (Mt 13:1-2)

The crowds gather,

and He gives them one word—

the word that shapes

everything that follows:

Jesus gave thanks at the Last Supper

knowing Judas had made his deal.

He gave thanks

knowing Peter would deny Him.

He gave thanks

knowing His disciples would scatter.

Devotional Jesus stood before Pilate with thunder in His lungs. He could have spoken storms, summoned angels, shattered injustice with a word. But He didn’t. He chose silence—not because He lacked voice, but because He knew when not to use it.

You may not know this about Jesus, but His silence wasn’t passive—it was restrained. A refusal to grasp power that wasn’t given. A surrender that shook the earth more than any shout.

Reflection Question Are there times when I should speak less so the Father can speak more?

Prayer Father, teach me not to explain or defend myself—especially when staying silent means I’m trusting You. Help me rest in the fact that You already know everything about me. Let my quiet before You be a place of strength, not a way to prove anything. Make my thoughts clean and faithful, even when I feel misunderstood. Help me trust Your timing more than my need to be heard. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

An Invitation

If you like this post I'll be posting four posts a week like this one on Instagram @theone.forjesus.  I've been reading the gospels monthly since March 2012 and during that time I compiled two blended gospels. The One was published in 2023 and has already been translated into Spanish, Ukrainian and Farsi. We hope to get it translated into Turkish, Russian and Polish in 2026. An amazing App has been developed which we're now beta testing. It's got some great features including the gospels in English and Ukrainian in both written and audio format.

"Get up," the angel said, "take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt." Matthew 2:13

Jesus was a refugee.

Not metaphorically.

Not symbolically.

He fled danger.

He crossed borders.

Christmas is not a whisper—

it's a verdict.

The Father would not allow

His Son's identity

to rest on one fragile voice.

He established it

Christmas celebrates His birth—

but you may not know this about Jesus:

soon after, His parents carried Him to the temple.

Simeon was old.

Silence had settled into his bones

like dust in an abandoned house.

When Israel camped at Sinai,

the mountain shook,

wrapped in smoke,

because the LORD descended in fire.

Thunder rolled,

lightning flashed,

"For today in the city of David

there has been born for you a Savior,

who is Christ the Lord." Luke 2:11 -

From the beginning,

Scripture spoke of the breath of God.

His breath filled the heavens,

"And behold, the star which they had seen in the east went before them until it came and stood over where the young child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy." (Matthew 2:9–10)

We've all seen it—

a blazing star above a stable,

shepherds and magi under one celestial spotlight.

But Scripture tells a stranger, greater story.

To the shepherds, the angels gave a sign:

The sheep were asleep,

a quilt of white wool across the hillside,

their soft shifting the only rhythm in the silence.

Above us, the stars burned steady—

silent heralds aching to break their vow

and shout the coming dawn.

Silence—in the womb.

Two mothers carried mystery,

two children carried promise.

Mary's greeting broke the quiet,

and Elizabeth gasped.

Her child jolted inside her—

"She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus" — Matthew 1:21

The whispers spread—an adulteress.

The scorn lashed out in silence—

a whip without words.

The glancing looks cut deep—

knives drawn in daylight.

"In My Father's house are many rooms… I go to prepare a place for you." (John 14:2–3)

Joseph and Mary were betrothed—

bound by covenant,

husband and wife by law,

but not yet intimate.

Their future secured.

No waiting for the alarm.

No packing the house.

No warning to neighbors.

No delay—birds escaping the hunter's net.

Why such urgency?

Because danger was closing in.

Jesus Was Named Twice Before His Birth

"The angel told Joseph, 'You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.'" (Matthew 1:21)

Centuries before Christmas,

King Ahaz trembled.

Two nations pressed his gates,

120,000 of his soldiers already fallen,

"He arose and took the child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt." —Matthew 2:14

Let's consider Joseph.

He didn't wait for the alarm.

He didn't pack the house.

He didn't warn his neighbors.

There was no delay—

In the beginning was the Word,

and the Word was with God,

and the Word was God.

He was with God in the beginning.

—John 1:1–2

John begins his Gospel by locating Jesus in eternity,

Jesus arrived in Bethany,

welcomed by two sisters.

Martha moved to the kitchen,

preparing a meal

with loving care.

Mary crossed a cultural line —

When Jesus finally approached him,

He didn't touch the water.

He didn't carry him to the pool

and place him in.

He just asked,

"Do you want to be well?"

Before eighth grade,

I had never prayed

with another person.

That changed

when a friend invited me

to a prayer meeting

But I did.

And that bothered me

even more.

That night

I read Luke 17.

Ten men with leprosy

When I wake,

the feeling lingers.

I'm not physically tired,

but I feel stuck —

as if I'm trying

and failing

So He gave them a truth

so odd-sounding

that many walked away.

"Very truly I tell you,"

Jesus said,

"unless you eat

His son had been tormented

since childhood —

thrown into fire and water

by a violent spirit.

The disciples had tried

to expel it and failed.

Then He says

something even more startling:

"Do not worry about tomorrow,

for tomorrow will worry about itself.

Each day has enough trouble

of its own."

"They do not sow seeds,

or reap crops

or store them in barns,"

He says,

"and yet your heavenly Father

feeds them."

At first glance,

it sounds philosophical —

like He's inviting us

to step back and admire

the mystery of being human.

But Jesus asks these questions

Gratitude remained His posture as suffering closed in-

a candle refusing to flicker in the storm.

The table wasn't pure.

The room wasn't safe.

But Jesus still lifted the bread, blessed the cup, and gave thanks-

a host welcoming friends He knew would wound Him.

So they stared in silence at the impossible.

Then another command: "Have them sit."

While they couldn't feed the throng, they could oversee the crowd.

The impossible exposed their doubt;

The practical exposed their desire.

And Jesus-already knowing-

High on a mountain,

Jesus stood with Peter, James, and John.

His face shone like the sun.

His clothes flashed dazzling white.

Then—Moses and Elijah appeared,

speaking with Him about His departure.

We often hear that word —

beloved — as tender.

Intimate.

A term of affection.

And it is.

But in the Jewish world,

When the teacher leaned over

and asked what he was drawing,

he didn't look up.

"A picture of God," he said.

"But nobody knows

what God looks like," she replied

My life was so radically changed

by Christ

that knowing Him better —

and helping others know Him —

became the driving purpose

of my life.

But Jesus didn't leap.

Jesus stood

without needing

public approval.

Yet the issue runs deeper:

He refused

Freedom from slavery.

Freedom from the lash.

Freedom from forced labor,

brick by brick.

Freedom from stolen children

and broken backs.

But once —

He prayed to be heard.

At the tomb of Lazarus,

surrounded by mourners and skeptics,

Jesus spoke to His Father

in a way everyone could hear:

"On this rock

I will build My church,

and the gates of Hades

will not overcome it."

(Matthew 16:18)

Then He climbed higher.

When He descended Mount Hermon,

He didn't come surrounded by light —

He came surrounded by need.

At the foot of the mountain,

Jesus found chaos.

A spiritual battle.

At His baptism

(Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11; Luke 3:22),

the Father declared:

"This is My beloved Son,

in whom I am well pleased."

Jesus was stepping

And then —

Moses and Elijah appeared,

speaking with Him

about His departure —

His exodus (Luke 9:31).

Peter, overwhelmed,

We often hear that word —

beloved — as tender.

Intimate.

A term of affection.

And it is.

But in the Jewish world,

And then the heavens opened.

Mark and Luke record

what the Father said directly to Jesus:

"You are My beloved Son;

with You I am well pleased."

It's intimate.

He gave me the keys

and told me

he'd set up a charge account

at the gas station.

"Have fun," he said.

My dad's generosity

Ten men with leprosy

stand at a distance,

calling out:

"Jesus, Master,

have mercy on us!"

Jesus doesn't touch them.

One man returns —

not just to say thanks,

but to worship.

Jesus tells him,

"Rise and go;

your faith has made you well."

"The Son can do nothing of Himself

unless it is something He sees the Father doing."

— John 5:19

When He told Nathanael,

"Before Philip called you,

I saw you under the fig tree,"

But Scripture paints a deeper picture.

"Emptied Himself"

didn't mean Jesus ceased to be God.

It meant He chose not to grasp

the rights of divinity.

His miracles weren't self-generated.

And in doing so,

He chose not to know everything.

Not because He lacked power,

but because He trusted the Father

more than He trusted answers.

His unknowing wasn't weakness.

This paradox sits at the heart of the incarnation:

full divinity meets full humanity.

It forces us to ask —

was Jesus omniscient

during His earthly life?

Or did He choose to limit His awareness?

The Exodus You Never Saw

Suddenly a sound

like a mighty rushing wind

came from heaven." - Acts 2:2

You may know the stories.

Moses at the sea (Ex 14).

Why Did Jesus Choose Judas Iscariot

"He went out to the mountain to pray,

and continued all night in prayer to God.

And when it was day,

He called His disciples to Him;

and from them He chose twelve?"

"Very early in the morning,

while it was still dark,

Jesus got up, left the house,

and went off to a solitary place,

where He prayed."

-Mark 1:35

Jesus had just silenced a demon in the synagogue.

The room was still buzzing.

(Mark 1:21-28)

But when He stepped into Peter's house,

He stepped into a new front in the same war-

not the public battle in the synagogue,

I used to read the deliverance in the synagogue

as just a dramatic scene in the story-

a violent eruption

that showed Jesus' authority over Satan's domain-

which it does.

But as I studied His temptation in the wilderness,

"Be silent. Come out of him." (Mark 1:25)

The Capernaum synagogue

was crowded with men in clean linen robes-

cream, beige, soft blues, muted reds-

sandals wiped clean before entering.

Stone benches lined the room,

As Jesus taught by the shore,

a crowd pressed around Him-

hungry for His words-

manna in the desert.

He finished teaching

and strolled by the water-

"A man full of leprosy fell on his face

and begged Him, saying,

'If You want to,

You can make me clean.'"

(Luke 5:12)

A leprous man approached Jesus-

"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

And immediately they left their nets and followed Him. - Matthew 4:19-20

Peter, Andrew, James, and John hadn't known Jesus long.

Three weeks at most.

But look at what they'd already seen and heard:

"Behold the Lamb." (John 1:29, 36)

"When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, 'Put out into the deep water and let down your nets for a catch.' (Jordan, this verse is (for the home page)

(Jordan, this verse is to be placed above the devotional insight) "Simon answered, 'Master, we have worked hard all night and caught nothing. But because You say so, I will let down the net.'" - Luke 5:4-5

Jesus asked for "nets."

Peter offered "net."

Not out of caution-

but because the request made no sense.

Before we talk about the woman Jesus met at Jacob's well,

we need to talk about the well itself.

Jacob's well sat beside a public road outside the village

where travelers passed throughout the day. It was

a landmark tied to Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph.

It wasn't a hidden place to avoid people.

"On His way He had to pass through Samaria" (John 4:4).

Jesus often leads us into places we would never choose.

And that's where discipleship usually begins-

walking with Him into uncertainty before we understand why.

In fact, that's exactly what His new disciples were experiencing in Jerusalem.

Momentum was building.

"Jesus answered him, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.'" - John 3:3

A paradigm shift is a moment when everything you thought you understood

suddenly changes at once-

not by improvement,

not by clarification,

but by seeing reality through a different lens-

Jerusalem was alive with Passover pilgrims-

word spreading that a young Rabbi from Galilee

was doing signs no one could explain.

Crowds pressed in,

stirred by what they'd heard

and what they hoped to see.

"And Jesus entered the Temple, and His zeal rose like fire,

driving out what did not belong." (John 2:13-17)

Most people know He turned water into wine in Cana (John 2:1-11)

and later overturned tables in the Temple (John 2:13-17),

but few realize those moments were only days apart.

After Cana, Jesus spent a short time in Capernaum (John 2:12)-

"Woman, what is this to Me and to you?" (John 2:4)

Yesterday we saw this wasn't a rebuke to Mary,

but the opening of a quiet conversation

between Jesus and His Father.

But there's a second line in that exchange

that we must not overlook:

"This, the first of His signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee,

and manifested His glory. And His disciples believed in Him."

(John 2:11)

Before anyone saw Jesus teach or heal,

there was a quiet moment at a village wedding in Cana—

the place where His glory first began to break through.

Andrew was the first to meet Jesus (John 1:35–37).

The first to stay with Him (John 1:39).

The first to bring someone else (John 1:40–41).

He brought his brother—Simon (John 1:41).

And Jesus spoke a new name over him:

Cephas.

"Come and see." — John 1:39

John 1:35–39; John 15:4

Jesus turned and saw them following—

Andrew and the unnamed disciple.

Moments earlier they had been standing beside John the Baptist

when he pointed at Jesus and said,

"My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning." Psalm 130:6

The riverbank heaved with people leaning forward,

desperate for a word from God after four centuries of silence—

tax collectors confessing their theft (Luke 3:12–13),

hands offering a spare tunic once kept back (Luke 3:11),

soldiers stepping toward the river,

"He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good,

and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous."

Matthew 5:45

Jesus said the Father pours out goodness

without bending His goodness to anyone's behavior,

like a musical note that refuses to choose which ear it will reach.

"And he was angry and refused to go in."

Luke 15:28

Let's look again at the Lord's most famous parable—the prodigal son.

The younger son broke his father's heart by leaving.

The older son broke it by staying.

Yes, he stayed home—

The Pharisees' unspoken question hung in the air:

"Why does He eat with sinners?"

They couldn't understand Jesus.

So He told them a story—

not about sinners,

but about a Father.

One Miracle Proved Jesus is God

"When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic,

'Son, your sins are forgiven.'" (Mark 2:5)

People pressed into the house as Jesus preached—

no space remained, not even at the door.

Undeterred, a paralyzed man's friends climbed onto the roof

"Thomas said to Him, 'My Lord and my God.'" — John 20:28

All the evidence Thomas demanded

evaporated the moment Jesus stood before him—

fully alive,

fully engaged,

fully God.

Jesus Claimed God's Name

"Before Abraham was, I AM." (John 8:58)

Some ask where Jesus explicitly claimed to be God.

They insist He never made such a claim.

But the people who heard Him-

the Pharisees trained in the Scriptures-

Jesus' Unequivocal Claim to Be God

"You will see the Son of Man

seated at the right hand of Power

and coming on the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62)

You may not know this about Jesus,

but He didn't leave His identity to guesswork.

"Do not fear, only believe." Mark 5:36

The laughter that once filled his home-

now silent.

Each breath-

thinner than a thread.

Each moment-

"Glad."

Not for death itself-

His weeping at the tomb reveals His heart.

But glad for the timing.

Glad for the deeper trust this delay would forge.

But why did He wait at all?

Jesus didn't begin by questioning the crowd.

He spoke first to His disciples:

"Who do people say the Son of Man is?"

They answered with rumors,

titles,

guesses.

Peter had failed.

Not quietly or privately-

he denied Jesus three times,

just as Jesus said he would.

And after the resurrection,

Jesus meets him-

"What do you want me to do for you?" - Luke 18:41

As Jesus entered Jericho,

a blind man cried out:

"Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38).

The crowd tried to silence him,

but he shouted louder-

Before the storm,

the disciples had seen Jesus heal the sick,

cast out demons,

and multiply food.

They had watched supernatural power flow through Him-

over bodies,

One man has been there 38 years,

lying on a mat,

waiting for a miracle.

Like a tree rooted in stone,

he had grown into his mat.

And Jesus asks a question that seems out of place:

Thanksgiving invites us to pause, to name what we're grateful for. It's a season of abundance, of shared meals and spoken blessings. Yet beneath the surface, some hearts are still waiting. Some prayers feel unanswered. Some healing hasn't come.

And for many, the silence of heaven can feel louder than the songs of gratitude-like an empty chair at the table no celebration can fill.

The Gospels say Jesus healed "all who came to Him" (Matthew 8:16). Yet at Nazareth, only a few (Mark 6:5). At Bethesda, just one man (John 5:3-9). Paul pleaded three times-and was told no (2 Corinthians 12:8-9). Even Jesus prayed for the cup to pass-and still went to the cross (Luke 22:42).

These aren't contradictions. They're revelations.

Jesus didn't heal to impress crowds. He healed to unveil the Father's heart. And sometimes, silence unveils it even more.

In the waiting, God is not absent. His glory doesn't bypass suffering-it meets us in it. "I will make rivers in the dry wasteland" (Isaiah 43:19).

Thanksgiving invites us to pause,

to name what we're grateful for.

It's a season of abundance,

of shared meals and spoken blessings.

Yet beneath the surface,

some hearts are still waiting.

Giving Away Treasure

"Every scribe trained for the Kingdom

is like a householder

who brings out treasures-

new and old." Matthew 13:52

As we grow in the Lord,

The Great Separation

"The kingdom of heaven is like a net

that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish."

Matthew 13:47

We live in a world

where light and darkness

Jesus said the Kingdom is like

a merchant

searching for fine pearls.

This man had searched

everywhere.

He had handled

Jesus uses hidden treasure

to show how the Kingdom can be present

yet unseen.

God's work is seldom small-

It may slip quietly into the familiar,

Unnoticed.

Jesus says the Kingdom works like leaven-

quiet, steady, unstoppable-

until the whole life becomes shaped

by the future God has already begun.

Paul says the same thing in different words:

"Christ in you, the hope of glory." - Col 1:27

"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees." - Matthew 16:6

Leaven is a small piece of old dough

saved from yesterday's batch.

It's alive.

It's active.

And once you press it into fresh dough,

Celebrate Small Beginnings

"The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed?

the smallest of all seeds." - Matthew 13:31

Jesus is speaking to people who knew

what they held in their palm,

and what it

Why God Doesn't Remove the Weeds Now

"He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man?

the field is the world?" - Matthew 13:37

Jesus follows the Parable of the Sower

with a paired agricultural one-

a parable that shifts the focus

"Today if you hear His voice,

Do not harden your hearts." Psalm 95:7-8

The last three posts have explored

the Parable of the Sower.

Today, we turn the lens inward-

because Jesus didn't tell this story to inform us,

Jesus is teaching

how the kingdom grows:

not by force,

but by the condition of the heart.

One seed.

Four outcomes.

Jesus steps out of the house

and sits beside the sea. (Mt 13:1-2)

The crowds gather,

and He gives them one word-

the word that shapes

everything that follows:

The Mercy of Parables

"I will open my mouth in parables;

I will utter things hidden

since the foundation of the world." - Mt 13:35

Matthew 13 is the moment Jesus opens eight parables

to reveal four truths about the Kingdom of God.

Healing the Wound Judas Left

"And they cast lots for them,

and the lot fell on Matthias." (Acts 1:26)

They had spent three years with Judas.

Walking the same dusty roads.

Sharing the same meals.

The First Miracle Was Unity

"All these with one accord

were devoting themselves to prayer?"

- Acts 1:14

Before the rushing wind of Pentecost.

Before the flames

Why Wait for the Power

"Stay in the city

until you are clothed

with power from on high."

Luke 24:49

Before Jesus sent them,

When Jesus' Presence Isn't Enough

"And remember, I am with you always,

Even to the end of the age." Matthew 28:20

Jesus promised His presence

as we step into disciple-making.

But what does that presence mean?

"Then He opened their minds

to understand the Scriptures."

Luke 24:45

Have you ever read Scripture

and felt like you should understand it-

but you don't?

"You will be My witnesses?" (Ac?1:8)

After the resurrection,

Jesus did not remain

with His disciples

continuously.

But He did appear to them

The Key to Making Disciples

"Teach them to obey

everything I have commanded you?"

- Matthew 28:20

Teach them to obey?

Everything Jesus commanded?

"Baptizing them into the Name

of the Father, and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit."

- Mt?28:19

Sometimes a mystery defies understanding.

Yet even when we can't fully grasp it,

"As you go,

make disciples."

- Matthew 28:19

When Jesus said "make disciples,"

He was inviting us

into the same kind of life

"But I have a baptism to undergo,

and how distressed I am

until it is accomplished!" (Lk 12:50)

We often think of Jesus' baptism

as the moment in the Jordan-

the water,

When Jesus finally gave them

their mission,

He didn't hand them a plan

to admire.

He gave them words

to obey.

Jesus told His disciples

to meet Him on a mountain in Galilee,

north of the Sea of Galilee,

the home of His ministry.

He had appeared to them numerous times.

He had eaten with them.

"When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter,

'Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?'" (Jn 21:15)

You may not know this about Jesus-

He doesn't wait for us to fix ourselves

before He calls us forward.

Peter's story doesn't start with courage.

Jesus hadn't appeared in over a week.

So Peter said, "I'm going fishing." (Jn 21:3)

Six others went with him.

All night they fished.

All night their net stayed empty.

Then at dawn-

"Children, do you have any fish?" (Jn 21:5)

You may not know this about Jesus,

but on the seashore after His resurrection,

He wasn't just creating new scenes-

He was bringing closure to earlier ones.

While reading the post-resurrection scene

"Thomas? was not with them when Jesus came." (Jn 20.24)

The room was alive

with the story

Thomas missed.

Hands moved

as they retold it.

As the Father sent Me

Jn 20.21

Fear clung to them

like smoke after a fire.

The doors were shut.

The room felt small.

"Then He opened their minds

to understand the Scriptures." Luke 24:45

I counted thirty-one times

Jesus mentioned

His death and or resurrection.

Not once did the disciples understand

John 20:19-21

When Jesus Walks Through Locked Doors

"Peace I Leave With You."

John 20:21

Evening settled over Jerusalem

like a gathering storm.

Where to Find Jesus

"Did not our hearts burn within us

as He spoke to us on the road,

as He opened the Scriptures to us?" Lu 24:32

The road to Emmaus carried a strange quiet,

as if Jerusalem's grief

A Name Jesus Used For The First Time

"Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father?" (Jn 20:17)

Mary reached for Him

and held Him tightly,

as if she could keep Him..

Jesus told her to let Him go

"Woman, why are you weeping?

Who are you looking for?" - Jn 20:15

Mary stood outside the tomb

weeping.

As she wept,

she stooped

"Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first,

also went in, and he saw and believed." - Jn 20:8

As she ran,

Mary encountered Peter and John

"They have taken the Lord out of the tomb,

and we do not know where they have laid him." - Jn 20:2

Why Was The Stone Removed?

"They saw that the stone had been rolled away, though it was very large." (Mk 16:4)

Before sunrise,

the women came to the tomb- (Mk 16:2)

Mary Magdalene,

Mary the mother of Joses,

"It is finished."

- John 19:30

Jesus didn't whisper this word.

He declared it.

A single breath

carrying the weight

Jesus' Third Word From The Cross

"My God, My God,

why have You forsaken Me?"

(PS 22:1)

When Jesus cried these words,

He hadn't lost faith.

Jesus Second Word From the Cross

"Truly I tell you, today you will be with Me in paradise."

Luke 23:43

One of the most encouraging stories

in the Gospels

is about the thief

"Father, forgive them,

for they don't know

what they're doing."

-?Lu?23:34

He hung there-

suspended by nails

"I came into the world-

to bear witness to the truth." - John 18:37

When I studied Greek,

I cherished one word.

A word so beautiful,

my wife and I would have given it to a daughter

God didn't rush the verdict-

He interrupted it at every turn,

giving Pilate room to choose

what was right,

even though it held risk.

The six trials of Jesus aren't

You may not know this about Jesus,

but after the first trial,

they dragged Him to a second hearing

at the home of Caiaphas, the high priest.

That hearing ended without a verdict.

So when the full Sanhedrin arrived,

"The soldiers arrested Jesus

and bound Him,

and brought Him first to Annas."

John 18:12-13

Most people know about Gethsemane and the Cross.

Few know what happened between them.

They thought they had Jesus surrounded.

Two hundred soldiers.

Torches.

Armor.

It looked easy-

a rabbi cornered in a garden.

A kiss.

A word.

Two gestures in the Garden

that seem like expressions

of friendship.

But neither means

You may not know this about jesus

but He felt it

when He entered the garden-

like stepping into a cave

and knowing your worst nightmare

wasn't a dream,

"My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow

to the point of death." - Mark 14:34

Gethsemane-

olive press.

A garden where olives were crushed

and oil flowed.

"I am the true vine,

and My Father is the vinedresser."

John 15:1

It was a cold night when they left the Upper Room,

cold enough that later the guards

would warm themselves by a fire.

"And it was night."

Jn 13:30

The door closed behind Judas,

and John wrote,

"And it was night."

To the city, it looked like any other Passover night-

"In that day you will ask the Father in My name?

for the Father Himself loves you." John?16:23,?27

The hour had come (John 17:1)

The Cross cast its shadow

over the table.

And Jesus prayed.

"And with that He breathed on them and said,

'Receive the Holy Spirit.'"

John 20:22

In the beginning, God spoke-

and darkness gave way to light. Genesis 1:3

An empty sky filled with stars.

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you.

Not as the world gives do I give to you."

John 14:27

I have lived through seasons

when fear held a grip on my mind-

my heart-

In the Upper Room Jesus warned them.

All of them.

Before a sword was drawn,

or a rooster crowed.

"Tonight you will all fall away because of Me."

- Matthew 26:31

"Love one another; as I have loved you."

John 13:34

Judas has left the room.

The seat he left still warm.

The door still swinging.

Peter remains at the table.

Jesus made a vow in the Upper Room

that's easy to overlook.

And that's no wonder.

After all, it sits

in the shadow of the foot washing,

the bread,

Passover to Pentecost

Why Jesus Laid Aside His Robe of Honor

"Having loved His own who were in the world,

He loved them to the end."

John 13:1

The Upper Room was filled

He did not give thanks for pain-

He gave thanks for the Father's love,

for the chance to redeem,

for the chance to liberate,

for the joy set before Him,

the joy of glorifying the Father,

When Jesus Holds You Close

"Blessed are you

when people insult you, persecute you,

and falsely say all kinds of evil against you

because of Me."

Matthew 5:11

Seek the Peacemaker, Not the Peace

"Blessed are the peacemakers,

for they shall be called children of God." Matthew 5:9

Peace isn't something Jesus creates around Him.

He is the Peacemaker (Ephesians 2:14).

Because of this,

How to See God

"Blessed are the pure in heart,

for they shall see God." Matthew 5:8

There is a longing we all know-

the longing to see God clearly.

We believe.

Blessed Are The Merciful

"Blessed are the merciful,

for they shall receive mercy."

Matthew 5:7

Mercy is more than feeling someone's pain.

It removes the source of pain.

The Beatitudes

Blessed Are The Hungry

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

for they will be satisfied."

(Matthew 5:6)

Jesus doesn't say, "Blessed are the righteous,"

The Beatitudes

Finders Losers, Losers Keepers

"Blessed are the meek,

for they shall inherit the earth."

Matthew 5:5

The world grabs.

The Beatitudes

The Comfort of God

"Blessed are those who mourn,

for they shall be comforted."

Matthew 5:4

There is a mourning

The Blessing of Poverty

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,

for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven."

Matthew 5:3

He sat down-

the posture of a teaching Rabbi-